Posted: by The Editor
The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format. Albums, singles, videos, and live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
deathcrash – Less
Less, the sophomore album from UK duo deathcrash, triangulates the perfect intersection between slowcore, emo, and post-rock. It’s bigger, it’s louder, and it’s heavier than any of the band’s previous material, and at least than 40 minutes for seven songs it’s more direct too. These are the band’s most immediate tracks, from the arpeggiated world-building of opener “Pirouette” to the tortured screams in “Empty Heavy” and “Turn.”
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Cape Crush – “San Souci”
Cape Crush, an emo-pop band hailing from the North Shore of Massachusetts, recently released “San Souci” off their debut EP, San Souci out April 14th via Ancient Injury Records. Known for their catchy hooks, relatable lyrics, and high-energy performances, the quartet is poised to make waves in the music scene.
Jazmin Lemus | @_Jazmin
Waveform* – “Lonely”
“Lonely,” a placid, hypnotic slowcore track, is one of the best cuts off Waveform*’s upcoming Antarctica. Built on a simple but infectious hook of “I’m lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely,” its hazy ambience filled out with country leanings, it’s a perfect reintroduction to the Connecticut duo after years of silence.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Forming – Sleep Like a Dog
Sleep Like a Dog is technically not a new release. In 2009, Forming released it as their debut in a pre-streaming era; in another world, it would sit in the dustbins of a lost internet to be forgotten. But thankfully, this past month, someone decided to release the EP onto all the relevant streaming platforms. The four songs fit somewhere between the uptempo punk you would see at FEST (“Intro”) and indie rock that shows off Americana tendencies (“The Metric System”).
Hugo Reyes @hvreyes5
Jane Lai – “Not All, But a Lot”
“Not All, But a Lot” is built for Sunday mornings on porch swings, for gazing in wonder at a sunset, for the moment when the protagonist realizes it’s been them all along. Between Jane Lai’s plainspoken delivery, a waltzing piano, and a searing guitar coda, Lai traces a lineage from the Beatles to Nana Grizol to Aldous Harding. The implication is one day Lai will be the one name-dropped by the musicians who picked up a guitar after hearing “Not All, But a Lot.”
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Cardboard Box Colony – “Sink or Swim”
Punk band Cardboard Box Colony recently released their new banger “Sink or Swim.” With a mix of skate punk and pop punk, “Sink or Swim” is off their upcoming split 7” with The Deathbots, out April 7th.
Jazmin Lemus | @_Jazmin
Initiate – “The Surface”
On “The Surface,” Initiate joins with the masses of other hardcore bands working alt rock riffs and catchy sung choruses into their formula in the post-Turnstile landscape. What sets them apart, though, is how seamlessly it works together. Crystal Pak’s clean vocals are as invigorating as her screams, and at barely over 90 seconds it just begs to be replayed.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Buddie – “We’ll Never Break”
Buddie’s new single is that perfect mix of heartfelt lyrics, lo-fi fuzz, and vocals that made me want to sing along the first time I heard it. They describe themselves on Bandcamp as bubble-grunge and power pop, and those are apt descriptions. If you love lvl up and wanted to know what they would sound like if they were on Run for Cover, this is for you.
Jami Fowler | @audiocurio
Stolen Jars – “Won’t Stay Gone Forever”
In a contrast to their dancey single “Somewhere Else,” Stolen Jars’ latest “Won’t Stay Gone Forever” makes use of a more reserved approach to the band’s enticing interplay of synths and electric guitars. The mantra-like repetition of the title, lines like “we fucked up, our lives flew over our heads / so I guess we’ll lay low instead” and “cause all my friends live in video games / I facetime them to remember their names” and the subtle addition of instruments as the song grows all lend to a somewhat eerie atmosphere, even as — like the other singles off the group’s upcoming I Won’t Let Me Down — the overall feeling is one of determined affirmation.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Hatefiles – Make Them Pay
In just five and a half minutes Ohio’s Hatefiles lay down some of the most punishing and relentless hardcore you’ll hear all year. Cherry’s Lucy Pawlowicz features on the title track, and her shrieks imbue the song with a swagger most hardcore bands can’t tap. Supposedly Make Them Pay is a sign of things to come for the Toledo punks, but until then, these songs should be more than enough to tide over fans. In ‘23, the world is Hatefiles’.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week our editor Lindsy Carrasquillo compiles a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We post it on Fridays on Twitter and then include it in each edition of the Weekly Roundup to make sure you don’t miss any of the great music we’re recommending.
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